embassy in cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the u.s. diplomatic post in benghazi and subsequently its annex. there are indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations." and, of course, that's exactly what ambassador rice told the american people. >> our current assessment is that what happened in benghazi was in fact, initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in cairo. we believe that it looks like extremist elements individuals joined in that -- in that effort. >> ambassador rice reported exactly what she was told by the cia. and testifying behind closed doors on capitol hill today, general david petraeus backed her up. looks like maverick mccain's flying solo with his fake talk express. joining me now is congressman gary ackerman, democrat from the new york, and senior member house foreign affairs committee and ryan grim, washington bureau chief of the "huffington post." he's writing about john mccain's call for a committee to investigate the benghazi attacks today. thank you both